Expansible cover for shoe-stretchers



(No Model.)

J.HERBST. EXPANSIBLE COVER FOR SHOE STRETGHBRS.

No. 587,965. Patented Aug. 10,1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUS I-IERBST, OF MILWAUKEE, IVISCONSIN.

EXPANSIBLE COVER FOR SHOE-STRETCHERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 587,965, dated August 10, 1897.

Application filed March 17, 1897.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it knownthat I, JULIUS HERBST, of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Expansible Covers for Shoe-Stretchers, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

My invention has relation to improvements in expansible covers for shoe-stretchers.

The use of shoe-stretchers is open to more or less objection owing to the fact that said stretchers are constructed of parts which are adapted to be separated in order to efiect the stretching of the shoe. When theadj ustin g mechanism of the stretcher is operated so as to separate the sections, openings are formed which leave parts of the shoe unsupported.

The object of my invention is to provide an expansible cover to bridge over these openings and to thereby support the shoe at all points and fill out the places which are left unsupported by the stretcher.

lVith the above primary object in view the invention consists of the devices and parts or their equivalents, as hereinafter more fully set forth.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved expansible covering applied to an ordinary shoestretcher. Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the covering removed from the stretcher, and Fig. 4 is a bottom view of a modified form of covering.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates a shoe-stretcher which, being of ordinary construction and forming no part of my invention, excepting so far as it combines and operates in connection therewith, requires no specific description.

The covering is preferably made of leather or similar material and consists of the main portion (5, which is so shaped as to conform to the shape of the stretcher over which it is adapted to he placed. The free edges of the covering are arranged on the under side thereof and these edges are adapted to overlap freely, so as to permit the giving or expandin g of the covering at the bottom thereof with the different adjustments of the stretcher. In the form illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 these Serial No. 628,051. (No model.)

overlapping edges are formed with V-shaped registering slits '7 7, which together form a diamond-shaped opening. The edge 8, which extends rearwardly in one direction from this opening, overlaps the corresponding edge 8 of the other side, and the edge 9 of this latter side, which extends from the diamond-shaped opening to the front of the covering, overlaps the corresponding edge 9 of the other side.

stretcher is adj usted,) and to thereby support the shoe at this point, I provide the lip or tongue 11, which is stitched at 12 to the coverin g and is free for the remaining portion of its length. This lip or tongue is of considerable width, especially at'or near its center, and is preferably composed of stiff leather.

As is well known, the usual form of shoe stretcher consists of two longitudinal sections hinged at their rear. The edges of these sections are adapted to be adjusted closer to- .gether or farther apart by means of an adj usting-screw provided with a suitable wedge which acts against the opposed edges of the stretcher. The stretcher 5 (shown in the accompanying drawings) is of this form, and it is obvious that when the stretcher is inserted into a shoe and the sections of the stretcher separated by means of the screw spaces are left between the separated edges because of the hinged and varying angular or oblique positions of parts, especially below the instep and just at the rear of the ball of the foot. By providing my improved covering,however, which is adapted to be inserted over the stretcher before the latter is placed within a shoe, these objections are successfully over come, as the cxpansible cover bridges over the openings and supports the shoe at all points and fills out places not supported by the stretcher.

- used, inasmuch as said slit provides for the covering better adapting itself to the shape of the shoe-that is to say, if the toe of the shoe is smaller than the covering then said cov ering can expand at the heel and consequently contract at the toe portion, or if the toe of the shoe is larger than the ,toe of the covering then the heel portion of the covering can contract and the toe portion expand. The same is true in regard to the heel portion of the covering, which is also susceptible of readily adapting itself to a shoe having a heel portion larger or smaller.

It will be obvious that my invention can be most advantageously used by repairers when putting patches on shoes or adjusting toe-tips to shoes or for the purpose of merely stretching a shoe, filling the shoe out perfectly,- and thus enabling the above to be accomplished much more efficiently than it is now possible to do.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. As an improved article of manufacture, an expansible covering for shoe-stretchers.

2. The combination with a shoe-stretcher consisting of separable or adjustable sections, of an expansible covering for the stretcher,

adapted to bridge over the openings formed by the stretcher, when the parts thereof are separated. v

3. As an improved article of manufacture, a covering for a shoe-stretcher, composed of suitable material and shaped to fit the stretcher, and having its edges free and overlapping.

et. As an improved article of manufacture,

a covering for a shoe-stretcher, composed of suitable material, and shaped to fit the stretcher, and having its free edges formed with registering slits to provide an opening.

5. As an improved article of manufacture, a covering .for a shoe-stretcher composed of suitable material, and shaped to fit the stretcher, and provided with a longitudinal slit.

6. As an improved article of manufacture, a covering for a shoe-stretcher composed of suitable material, and shaped to fit the stretcher, and provided with a longitudinal slit, and a lip or tongue secured to the covering and bridging over the longitudinal slit.

7. As an improved article of manufacture, a covering for a shoe-stretcher composed of suitable material, and shaped to fit the stretcher, and-having its free edges on its under side overlapping, and provided with a longitudinal opening in its top, and a tongue or lip secured to the covering and bridging over the longitudinal opening in the top.

In testimony whereof I aflix' my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JULIUS HERBST.

WVitnesses:

ARTHUR L. MoRsELL, ANNA V. FAUST. 

